Reggie falls for a cute girl (literally)
by wolfs1999
Summary: When Reggie embarrasses herself in front of Conelly (again) and decides to run away instead of talking to the older girl (again), Esther decides to step in and force her nervous friend to interact with the older girl


ESTHER'S POV:

"There's something in the back of the school that I want to show you guys, but you have to be really quiet so they don't notice us!" I jump a little when Reggie slams her hands down on the table, her sentence coming out more as one word than a competent sentence structure so it takes a minute before anyone can process what she said. I honestly didn't know where one word ended and the next began. Gwen figures it out first and offers a kind smile. I wasn't sure how Gwen had gotten used to it so quickly when I'm pretty sure this was the first time either she or I had seen Reggie speak this fast. Judging by the look on Todd's face, one of hesitance but familiarity, he had already deciphered her message as well, so I just smile and pretend to have understood her jumbled words. It seemed easier than trying to turn the alphabet soup-esque sentence into something resembling a proper sentence.

"Sure, dude," Gwen says, clearly underestimating what type of destruction Reggie is capable of. While she seemed eager to play along with whatever Reggie had planned, Todd looked a little too nervous for comfort. He knows Reggie better than anyone else here, so I took his nervousness to be the right way to feel about this situation, the excitement shining in Reggie's eyes concreting that idea and taking my stomach down with it. With that, we all stand up, Todd and I exchanging nervous glances. My brain chooses this moment to decipher Reggie's words, the sentence morphing itself into something I can understand and part of it bothers me. Are we going to be spying on someone? That didn't go too well the last time we did that. I should tell her that I'm uncomfortable with this, but instead, I simply trial behind them. Reggie spins to face us as she walks, finally slowing her words down to the pace I'm used to, which is great because her exaggerating hand gestures don't do much to help decipher anything she says. It's always a weird game of charades with her if she can't force her words out, a game that no one can win other than Brown Roger and he's even harder to understand. Her hand gestures quickly become the less confusing part when I notice a look of anxiety in her eyes and she stumbles over a few words, seemingly losing her train of thought as her anxiety washes over her. I was familiar with seeing that happen, this is middle school after all, but I've never seen Reggie get this nervous. She looked like someone who was about to ask her crush out and if I didn't already know that she doesn't believe in romance, I might believe that that was what she was doing.

"They make awe-" she's suddenly cut off when she faceplants the concrete with a near sickening thud before being dragged up into the air by a rope now secured around her ankles. I hear a soft whimper escape her lips and she holds her face.

"Reggie!" I call out in worry, pushing past Todd and Gwen who froze in place the moment Reggie fell. "Are you ok?" Since she was covering her face, I couldn't tell if she was hurt, but I think she was crying. With how hard she hit the ground, I wouldn't be surprised if she had a bloody nose or bruised something.

"Shaun, cut her down! Make sure you lower her slowly!" Suddenly an older girl is standing in front of me looking worriedly up at Reggie. "I'm so sorry about that, Regina! We were using it to catch CJ in the next scene! Are you ok?!" I bet CJ is lucky that they didn't have to go through with it. Noticing the pillow by the other girl's feet, I decide Reggie was the unlucky one and fell the wrong way. Either way, soon Reggie is being slowly lowered down and the other girl helps guide her down to a laying position. I could see the red on Reggie's face even through her hands. I don't know why I'm so surprised that even Reggie would find faceplanting in front of people to be embarrassing. I know I would be completely humiliated. I guess I thought Reggie was just impossible to embarrass.

"I thought you said no one would come back here!" The other older girl says, worry tightening her voice and I couldn't tell if she was worried about Reggie or worried that she might get in trouble for accidentally hurting someone.

"Is she bleeding?" Todd asks, slipping past me to get a better look, probably trying to stop an argument between the older kids before it could ever start.

"Give her some space!" The older girl demands, looking at Reggie's still covered face for a second before moving to untie the rope. "I'm sorry, I should have assumed someone might come back here. It's just been a while since you first snuck back here to watch us and you're really the only one who's done that."

"It's cause you were talking about swords, " came a muffled and quiet response and the other girl giggles.

"Oh yeah, we were, weren't we? I don't think swords even come close to how cool your Toy Court set was!" Why are they talking about swords and toys? Shouldn't she be making sure Reggie's ok? It immediately clicks when Reggie moves her hands slightly away from her face that she's trying to help calm her down. Right, when I thought Reggie was going to finally let us know if she was hurt or not, the older girl gets the rope off of her and she jumps up and runs awkwardly away.

"Reggie, wait!" I turn the corner and find her gone, so I quickly join her in Endless before Gwen, the older girl, or the older girl's friends get the chance to turn the corner to spot me vanishing in a flash of light. I'm greeted by the sight of her already punching trees down, screaming out in rage.

"Why do I always look like an idiot in front of her?!" I wanted to turn around and leave, this seemed like something she didn't want me seeing. I don't know why I stay and I especially don't know why I walk over to her and tentatively tap on her shoulder. She spins around and I thank everything that she doesn't look injured, just really really angry.

"Are you ok?" I wince slightly at how timid I sound. Reggie might be angry, but she's still my friend. She might not think things through, but I have faith that she would never purposefully hurt me.

"I'm fine!" Her face was red with anger and she looked embarrassed.

"I didn't mean to eavesdrop on you, " I mutter and she drops her head with a sigh, which wasn't the reaction I was expecting from her. I figured she'd roll her eyes or storm off, maybe both.

"I don't know what it is about Conelly, but every time I see her I look and feel like an idiot." She spoke so quietly that I wasn't sure she wanted me to hear it. I barely did, the small sound was easily carried away by the roaring noise of Endless. She looked so ashamed of herself that I almost felt bad about the huge smile that crept its way onto my face.

"Reggie! You have a crush on her!" I grab her shoulders and excitedly pull her into a hug. I love helping people with their love life! Probably because mine sucked, but still this was exciting!

"No, I don't!" Her protests were loud, but I pretended they got washed out by the sounds of Endless' inhabitants who were not so subtly watching us.

"Let's go back. The others are probably worried."

"What? No!" I ignore her again, excitement forcing her words out of my head as I send us back to reality.

CONELLY'S POV:

"They couldn't have just disappeared! We need to find them! Regina might have a concussion!" I yelled, getting into the younger boy's face at this point. I was blinded by rage, ignoring the pulls of our friends trying to separate us. "How could you suggest we just leave? She's your friend and she's hurt! Don't you care about her?" Out of the corner of my eye, Isaw a look of concern and fear washed over Shaun's face. The way I was behaving was so unlike me. I always kept a cool head, it was who I was. This was the first I had blown my lid in as long as I could remember. The look on his face was sobering, but not enough to wash the red out of my vision. I felt my cheeks heating up to what felt like they could dry the tears shamelessly cascading down my face.

"Of course I care! She's my best friend, which is why I know she's fine! She gets knocked down all the time and laughs it off without fail. She can handle anything, so we should just focus on getting to class on time if we aren't already late." I felt myself lunging forward, but I wasn't really sure what I was planning on doing. I know I wouldn't hurt the kid, but I still mentally sighed in relief when I felt a pair of arms wrap around my waist to hold me back. The head burrowing between my shoulder blades silently informs me that this was actually a hug from someone seeking comfort. The arms slowly traveling up my abdomen screams fear as they pull me closer to the shivering form behind me, her arms stopping their ascent just below my ribs. I turn my head to look down at the yellow and orange mess clinging to me, gently pulling my fingers through her now knotted hair as I struggle to turn around in her tight grip. I guide her face to my shoulder so she can hide her face in my neck as I rub comforting circles into her back. She felt hot like a small candle radiating its heat.

"I was so worried, Regina. You just disappeared like you always do! Are you hurt?"

"I think she got hurt really bad! You need to take her to the nurse!" I don't even pause to take the time to think about the other girl's odd tone as she steps out of our way. Instead, I carefully pull away from Regina so I can lead her along with my hands on her shoulders. Her body was tense. I wasn't sure if she was injured, but I was going to take the other girl's word for it instead of risking it.

"Where did you two disappear to?" I could hear the girl that had stayed behind say, but I couldn't hear the reply. There probably wasn't a verbal one to hear.

"I'm more concerned about why you pushed Reggie into that girl's back." I don't know why I blush at the boy's statement, maybe I felt stupid for thinking Regina voluntarily hugged me. I mean, she's constantly avoiding me so why would she ever hug me? She won't even talk to me! Push or hug, I still enjoyed the other's embrace. I wish I could feel it again sometime soon. Hopefully, it'll be paired with an actual conversation that doesn't involve running away or her having her face smashed into the asphalt.


End file.
